The City of Bellevue and Sound Transit will host a second joint open house to share the latest cost-saving ideas for the East Link light rail project.

A Cost Savings Report, with analysis of the cost-savings ideas and key findings will be provided, and staff will be available to answer questions. This is a follow-up to the April open house where potential cost-savings ideas were introduced.

The open house will be 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, at City Hall, 450 110th Ave. NE. The main purpose is to obtain public comment on the next level of cost-savings ideas.

In November 2011, the City Council and the Sound Transit Board approved an agreement that established a framework to develop the project and to share the additional cost of a downtown tunnel. Since then, the city and Sound Transit have been engaged in a collaborative design process, which includes studying ideas to potentially reduce the costs of building the Bellevue section of the light rail line and the six stations to be located inside the city's boundary.

East Link will run from Seattle, across Lake Washington on Interstate 90, through Bellevue to the Overlake Transit Center in Redmond.

Public comments from both open houses will inform decisions by Sound Transit and the city on which cost-savings ideas will move forward for further design and analysis beginning this summer and possible incorporation in the final design phase of the project.

Bellevue will continue to work closely with Sound Transit, and there will be additional opportunities for public input as the project progresses. Before construction begins in 2015, Sound Transit must finalize the route design, stations, art installations, construction methods and mitigation. East Link is projected to begin service in 2023.